Easton considers lighting, security camera

    EASTON, Maine – Easton School Committee members are considering whether to make lighting improvements, as well as adding additional security cameras on school grounds.
According to Superintendent Frank Keenan, four cameras were installed on the outside of the buildings three years ago after FEMA received money from the federal government.
    “Each school district was given about $8,000 to be used for cameras,” he said. “What we’ve discovered is that the cameras that we had put in need a lot more lighting, and they’re not real great cameras for outside.
“We’ve been looking at upgrading,” said Keenan. “We’ve had a couple of instances of vandalism, and the cameras and lighting that we currently have have not served us any purpose at all. The images are dark and unclear, so for the purpose of safety and the purpose of vandalism, we’re looking at what it would cost us to upgrade.”
In addition to improve the image quality on the security cameras, additional lighting would create a safer school environment, as well.
“Improved lighting would make the area in the evenings more clear for people who are walking,” said Keenan. “In the winter, you have snow and ice and it’s hard to see if it’s dark where those ice patches are.”
The superintendent said while the board hasn’t appropriated any money at this time, there are funds in place to do capital improvements.
“That is not where we hopefully will end up taking money from,” Keenan said. “If we go this route, we’ll be able to use some federal funds that have come through the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) grant.
“Will we need more? We won’t know until we get all of the proposals in, but that’s the first place we’ll look … if the board decides to pursue this,” he said.
Keenan said the cameras presently outside the school buildings would work better inside.
“One of the things we’re looking at is moving the cameras inside,” he said, “and replace them with better cameras outside.”
Committee members will be reviewing various proposals from area businesses, and Keenan said a decision probably won’t be made until May or June.